The summer days slowly slip away from us as the August sun fades in intensity and those chilly evenings and early mornings creep in. We’ve wandered way past that warm time of the year, but the best of August will not be denied any longer! Perhaps August wasn’t as stellar as other months, but the good stuff was very good. There was less staff friction, though, which is always nice. And yet, this list will still piss off roughly 89.666% of them anyway, and that’s nice too.
Kenstrosity is a man prone to intense fandom. Perhaps no other album got him quite as worked up during his time at AMG as Triosphere’s very long-awaited third magnum opus, Oceans Above, Stars Below. [out August 28th on Frontiers Records] The band’s prior releases showed a shrewd talent for blending classic metal ideas with power aesthetics and mild symphonic elements. After too long a delay, Triosphere came back with an album that once again shows that they sit at the very top of their chosen genre. Oceans Above, Stars Below feels like no time elapsed between it and 2014s excellent The Heart of the Matter. The writing is tight, larger-than-life, and the choruses will blow holes in your memory defenses. Song after song kicks ass and leaves you wishing these cats were way more productive. After a nearly 12-year wait, Triopsphere are back, and you will accept their dominance. As a massively excited Kenstrosity gushed, “An album this excellent, this passionately performed, this finely honed, deserves a universal audience. Forget the trappings of genre or category. Oceans Above, Stars Below is a record I’ll be recommending to anyone and everyone.”
Runner(s) Up:
Miscreance // Reminiscence – Throwing open the lost tomes of Death, Nocturnus, and Atheist, Miscreance bring the progressive death-thrash party to the people on Reminiscence [out August 28th on Season of Mist]. With talented members who can do anything they want musically, Miscreance take the listener on a wild journey through imagination and extremity. There’s a strong Death-centric vibe undergirding the material, but this is no mere homage project. As things roll along, you will be reminded of legendary acts like Sadus, and the technical prowess will shock and awe while the band’s unevolved caveman instincts bludgeon and stomp you. It’s smart but nasty stuff. As a musically shell-shocked Creeping Ivy exhaled, “One day, I look forward to reminiscing about Miscreance’s sophomore album as the band’s stepping-stone to the top of the death-thrash world.”
Flotsam and Jetsam // Rats in the Temple – Arizona sons Flotsam and Jetsam had a pretty rough period of less-than-stellar releases in the early aughts, but the band got back on track with their self-titled 2016 album, and there’s been no stopping them since! Rats in the Temple [out August 28th on Napalm] is the fifth killer release in their second-career comeback campaign, and Flotsam sounds young, dumb, and full of beach crumbs, delivering track after track of speedy, rowdy, metal. It’s meat n’ taters metal, but prepared by a talented chef, and the songs are very memorable. As I opined sagely, “I hoped Flotsam and Jetsam could keep their recent winning streak going, and lo and behold, Rats in the Temple may be the best of their string of comeback albums.” Rats, man.
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